Albrecht Durer Art Prints

"In Venice, I am treated as a nobleman... Here I really am somebody, whereas at home I am just a hack," lamented Albrecht Durer (21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528) about Germany's medieval conception of artists. Italian Renaissance ideas first came north in a powerful way through Durer, who trained in Nuremberg as a goldsmith, painter, and woodcutter. After visiting Venice in 1495, Durer intensely studied mathematics, geometry, Latin, and humanist literature. He expressed himself primarily through prints; painting was less profitable, and Lutheran church reformers disdained most religious artworks. So, Durer's paintings are few and more traditional than his amazing engravings and phenominal woodcuts. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since. In 1498 he published the first book entirely produced by an artist, "The Apocalypse," fourteen woodcuts illustrating the Book of Revelation. Its vivid imagery, masterly draftsmanship, and complex iconography established his reputation and revolutionized the potential of that medium.